States Oppose Nigerian Govt’s N600bn Vote For N70,000 Wage
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Representatives of state governments who were present at the last Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting, have kicked against the federal government’s decision to save additional revenue for the payment of the new minimum wage.
This development was received with opposing views, when an update on statutory allocation showed that the government transferred a sum of N200bn into the non-savings account at the August FAAC meeting, making a total of N595bn.
The Commissioners of Finance, Akwa Ibom, Dr Linus Noah; Delta, Okenmor Tilije and Ekiti, Akintunde Oyebode raised the observation at the last FAAC meeting held August 16, 2024, minutes of which our correspondent obtained.
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At the meeting, it was learnt the committee distributed a total sum of N1.36tn to the three tiers of government, N1bn less than N1.35tn shared in June.
In his opening address, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, applauded President Bola Tinubu for signing the National Minimum Wage Act into law, adding that its implementation will be of immense benefit to all Nigerians.
He further disclosed that discussions were still ongoing on the consequential adjustments.
The minutes quoting the minister read, “Work on the new minimum wage is still in progress, adding that government had continued to dialogue with the organised labour and the private sector with a view to reaching an agreement.”
But after a presentation by a representative from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation on the gross statutory revenue and necessary deductions of N1.29tn, the commissioner took turns to question the reasoning for such deduction.
Reacting, the Commissioner of Finance, Akwa Ibom State, Dr Linus Noah faulted the move, stressing that the income should be shared in view of the current financial challenges faced by the states.
Additionally, Dr Noah’s counterpart from Delta State, Okenmor Tilije, disagreed with the proposed idea of saving the money for the benefit of the central government only and asked that it be shared to augment the distributable allocation.
The minutes read, “The HCF, Akwa Ibom State, referred to the provision made in the month for transfer to Non-Oil Savings Account. He proposed that given the financial challenges facing the states, the amount should be used to augment the distributable revenue for the month.
“In addition, the HCF, Delta State, agreed with his counterpart from Akwa Ibom State on the need to share the N595bn in the Non-Oil Savings Account to augment the distributable revenue.”
